King Chŏngjo, an enlightened despot in early modern Korea

Description

Were the countries of Europe the only ones that were “early modern”? Was Asia’s early modernity cut short by colonialism? Scholars examining early modern Eurasia have not yet fully explored the relationships between absolute rule and political modernization in the highly contested early modern world. Using a comparative perspective that places Chŏngjo, king of Korea from 1776 to 1800, in context with other Korean kings and with contemporary Chinese and European rulers, Christopher Lovins examines the shifting balance of power in Korea in favor of the crown at the expense of the aristocracy during the early modern period. This book is the first to analyze in English the recently discovered collection of 297 private letters written by Chŏngjo himself. These letters were a vital channel of communication outside of official court historians’ scrutiny, since private meetings between the king and his ministers were forbidden by custom. Royal politics played out in an arena of subtle communication, with court officials trying to read the king’s unstated, elliptically hinted at intentions and the king trying to suggest what he wanted done while maintaining plausible deniability. Through close analysis of both official records and private letters, including Chŏngjo’s “secret letters,” Lovins shows that, in contrast to previous assumptions, the late eighteenth-century Korean monarchs were not weak and ineffective but instead were in the process of building an absolutist polity. Contents......Page 8 Acknowledgments......Page 10 Introduction......Page 12 Chapter One: Early Modernity and Absolutism......Page 26 Chapter Two: Politics in Early Modern Korea......Page 38 Aristocratic-bureaucratic Balance......Page 40 The Prince Sado Affair And Le Gitimacy......Page 47 Chapter Three: The Politic s of Confucianism......Page 54 Education And The Classics......Page 56 Scholar-King......Page 57 Recovering the Classics: Countering Zhu Xi’s Minister-Centered Thought......Page 58 Discretion 權......Page 62 Chapter Four: Power and Factions......Page 74 The Trouble with Hong Kuk-yong......Page 77 The P’ungsan Hong Clan and Royal Relatives......Page 80 The Policy of Impartiality......Page 84 Playing Both Sides: Ch’ae Che-gong and Sim Hwan-ji......Page 87 Chapter Five: Building a System......Page 100 Early Setbacks: The Struggle Over Selection Secretaries......Page 101 The Royal Library: A Place of Learning and Power......Page 103 The Royal Selection System: Studying at the Foot of the Throne......Page 108 Expanding Recruitment: Northmen and Bastards......Page 110 Personal Rule: Circumventing Ministers......Page 118 Petitions and Processions......Page 119 Slavery......Page 125 Chapter Six: Military Matters......Page 134 The Illustrious Fortress: A Monume Nt to Sado?......Page 135 Preparations for Construction......Page 136 Building the Fortress......Page 137 A Center of Royal Power......Page 140 The Robust and Brave Regiment: Whom Do They Serve?......Page 144 Chapter Seven: Chongjo in an Early Modern World......Page 150 The Center Holds: Chongjo and Qianlong......Page 155 No Such Thing as Passive Life: Chongjo and Louis XIV......Page 162 Conclusion......Page 174 Notes......Page 186 Bibliography......Page 218 Index......Page 234